Excursion

Topic 1:Early and high Medieval Settlement Structures and their Development in the Notte Valley near Mittenwalde

Tour guide: Dr. Felix Biermann, Georg-August-University, Göttingen

Topic 2:Iron smelting on the Teltow till plain

Tour guide: Markolf Brumlich, M.A., Freie Universität Berlin

Description:

The excursion will lead us to the landscape Teltow south of Berlin, where settling left its anthropogenic impact over a long time period. First, we will visit the site of Glienick situated on a till plain (Grundmoränenplatte), where several relicts of iron smelting were found in settlements of the Younger Iron Age. The settlers exploited the meadow iron ore in the surrounding areas. Information will be given about the archaeological and geological investigations in this area.

In the vicinity of the nearby situated town Mittenwalde in the Teltow area a densely occupied settlement chamber existed from 7th/8th to 13th century, including agrarian settlements, two strongholds from 9th/10th as small rulers residences, settlements of economic importance and the location town (and castle) Mittenwalde itself, the latter growing up since the late 12th century. Conducive for the growth of this settlement concentration was an important far trade route crossing here the River Notte, this river itself and the border position to Lusatian tribal area. In the last years several excavations and prospections were conducted in this area, accompanied by multi-disciplinary settlement studies. These investigations, realized on the base of a German-Czech DFG-GAČR-Project, delivered important material for the understanding of the changes of the Early Medieval system of land use and settlement structures and its fate under the conditions of “German Eastern Colonization” in the 12th/13th century, and for the development of the central places: the strongholds and the location town. Destinations of the field trip are selected early medieval sites and the town of Mittenwalde including the late medieval town church.

Note:There are limited seats available for the excursion. Please register soon. No lunch break is planned during the tour. Therefore you may wish to bring some picnic food and drinks yourself. However, there will be the occasion for lunch in Mittenwalde at the end of the tour.